Ticking Clock
by Jeannie-Mckay
Summary: Deaths are being planned, but will they be carried out? Another part of my Seventh Book Drabbles series.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Ticking clock

Rating: T (for some language in later chapters)

Summary: Deaths are being planned, but will they be carried out? Part of my Seventh Book Drabbles series. This is set after 'Pictures on the Mantelpiece' and before 'Memories'

Author's Note: As there's only two days until the last book comes out, you can expect speedy updates of this. The whole of it will probably by up by the end of tonight. -fingers crossed- I hope you enjoy this enstallment, and please do review.

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"Now is time to prove yourself, Wormtail." The cold voice crept down his spine, causing goose bumps to appear all over his arms. Peter had been waiting for weeks to be able to prove where his loyalties lay, but the Dark Lord hadn't even let him out of the house. It seemed like his Lord didn't think he was able to do simple tasks, he'd only just been able to get away from Snape's disgusting house! How he hated ol' Snivelly, the stupid greaseball seemed determined to make his life a misery, but then again maybe it was revenge for all the times back at school when James and Sirius had hexed Snape.

"Yes, my Lord?" He said, in a voice that quivered slightly. He had to admit that he was terrified! He had no idea what he would be asked to do, but he hoped that it was something that would put him back in the Dark Lord's good books, because he hated being on the outskirts of the Death Eaters. Every time he passed a fellow supporter of the Dark Lord, they would glare at him and whisper behind their hands. It was like school all over again, and he hated it. At least at school he'd had the other Marauders to look out for him, and stop other students hexing him wherever he went.

"I want you to take three of your fellow Death Eaters, and go to 'The Burrow'." Voldemort was staring at the empty grate, not bothering to turn around to face Wormtail. Peter was grateful for this, because he doubted that he'd be able to keep his nerve, if he had to look into those slits one more time.

"May I ask why, my Lord?" Peter's curiosity was overwhelming, and he didn't understand why he should be sent to see the Weasley family. They were unimportant, and held no real threat to his master, so why?

"Because, Wormtail, I want you to kill them. All of them." Voldemort turned to watch Peter, no doubt checking to see what reaction this mission got. The balding man tried hard not to let his shock show on his face, but he knew that he was failing.

"Why, my Lord?"

"Arthur Weasley has eluded death by my hands twice before. It is most, inconvenient. Also his family is close to Harry Potter, with them out of the way he will loose yet more of his support network. Soon he will be begging for mercy." Peter nodded slowly, still trying to take it all in. He had to go, with three others and kill the entire Weasley family. But that was a massacre! He'd never been involved in anything so big, and so brutal before. What if they put up a fight? What if other members of the Order showed up? His heart felt like it was beating out a samba, but he took a deep breath and bowed low.

"Of course, my Lord." As he turned to leave, he heard Voldemort move towards him. A cold hand touched his shoulder, and he fought hard to contain a shiver.

"You will do as I ask, Wormtail. I will know if you spare them." The voice was by his ear, and he felt Voldemort's breath on his face. Peter nodded once, and when the hand released him, hurried out of the room.

Once he was safely out of sight, he slumped against the nearest wall and bit his lip. This was not good; he didn't want to be involved in a massacre! Sure he wanted to prove himself, but not in this way! This way meant that a family died, a family that he'd known! He sighed, before pushing himself off the wall and scurrying towards his room. He had no idea who would be accompanying him on this little venture, but he hoped it was someone who vaguely liked him. Knowing his luck it'd be Bellatrix or Knott, both of whom seemed to detest him far more then they had cause to. Sure he'd been friends with Sirius, and okay Sirius had been in Gryffindor, but really was that enough for Bellatrix to hate him? And what was Knott's problem? It wasn't like Peter was capable of being a threat; he wasn't even the Dark Lord's favourite anymore.

As Peter entered his room, he looked down at his silver hand. And his mind filled with memories of the night his master had returned, and the pain of losing his hand. The Dark Lord had assured him that it would be worth it, but frankly Peter wasn't so sure. He'd liked having a normal hand, and what was so good about a silver hand? Well, apart from the fact that he could threaten Fenrir with it if he ever looked at him kind of hungrily. He flopped down onto his rickety old bed, and placed his head on the hard pillow. Before long he was dozing, and thinking about times that had past.

_'"Wormtail, keep quiet!" James whispered, as they made their way carefully out of Hogwarts. It was only James, Peter and Sirius under the invisibility cloak tonight, for tonight was a Full Moon. Poor Remus was shut in the Shrieking Shack, already transformed into the beast that he became once a month._

_"Sorry, Prongs." Wormtail whispered back, as they got through the front doors and down towards the grass. The light breeze whipped against the cloak, making it flutter round their ankles. Soon they'd have to take it off, so that they could transform into their animagi forms. They continued to hurry down the grounds, towards the Whomping Willow whose branches were moving slightly in the breeze. _

_"Okay, cloak off." As the three of them stepped into full visibility, they looked around quickly to check that no one had seen them. If anyone found out what they were up to, then there'd be a huge commotion!_

_Once they'd made sure that no one was around, they quickly transformed into their animal selves. Peter, being the smallest, hurried over to the Willow and began dodging the branches as they began to hit the ground around him. After a few seconds of frantic running, he reached the knot in the trunk and pushed. The branches froze, and Prongs and Padfoot ambled forwards. Now they just had to go down into the Shack, and meet their friend. This had been the routine for a year now, and they all enjoyed it, even Remus! It meant that he wasn't alone on these nights, and that was what mattered…'_

_'Peter was sat in the second row from the altar and was watching, with tears in his eyes, as Lily and James said their vows. He couldn't believe that they were finally getting married! It didn't seem like two minutes since Lily was shouting in the middle of the Great Hall, that she hated James and never wanted to be near him ever again. But now, here they were!_

_Remus was sat on the opposite aisle, because he'd given Lily away. The werewolf was watching his two friends with a huge grin on his face, obviously ecstatic that he was witnessing two people who were made for one another getting married. Sirius was stood just below James, watching the two of them with a small smile on his face. He held the rings out to James, who took them gratefully, he seemed quite eager to get a ring on Lily's finger, almost as if he thought that this was all some dream._

_All too soon the ceremony was over, and people were walking up to the happy couple and congratulating them on their wonderful ceremony. Peter stood back, and let the other people around him crowd around the newly weds. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Remus stood next to him,_

_"Was a good ceremony." The werewolf said happily, as he removed his hand from Peter's shoulder and stood by his side._

_"Yeah, they look so happy."_

_"Yep, they're going to have a great, long and happy life together. I'm sure of it."…'_

_'After years of having to live life as a rat, he was finally free. He could walk around on two legs, move his arm, and wiggle his fingers. Peter found that it was the simple things in life that he'd missed the most, along with proper food, not the disgusting rat food he'd had to get used to. The only problem with being back in human form, was that two of his old best friends were stood before him with their wands pointed at him._

_Peter glanced between them, trying to plead with them silently to let him go. He wasn't any harm; he wasn't going to hurt them. Why should they kill him? He couldn't be blamed for James and Lily's deaths, the Dark Lord had powers that they could only dream of! He hadn't been able to keep any information from him!_

_"Shall we kill him?" Peter's eyes widened, and he felt his heart beat quicken. 'Please don't let it end like this' he thought, hoping against hope that something would save him…'_

Peter awoke with a start, sweat beading his forehead. That last memory had caused him to have nightmares for many nights after the event, all because his friends had wanted to kill him. A part of him knew that they had reason to, he had after all sold James and Lily down the river, but still why did they have to kill him?

With a great effort he pulled himself back to the present, remembering the task he had to do. The Dark Lord would send word when he was ready, and then Peter would find out who he was going to go with. He sat up on his bed, and looked around the dingy room. It wasn't exactly five star accommodation, but it was good enough. It catered for all his basic needs, and at least it had a lamp in it. The last place he'd slept had not had any light in it at all; he'd been shut in the dark only seeing sunlight when he went outside. It had been a nightmare.

Suddenly there was a tapping on the door, Peter rose warily and placed his hand on the door handle. As he opened the door a letter fell to the dusty floor, it had spidery writing on it and Peter could tell that they were instructions. He bent down and picked it up, before closing the door and moving back into the room. Beady, brown eyes glanced over the parchment, taking in every word that was written. It did indeed contain instructions, instructions on how to get to The Burrow and who was coming with him. The date was…tomorrow!

Peter brought a hand up and ran it through his hair, he couldn't believe it! He was going to have to kill the family that had looked after him, as a rat, for years.

_'Oh get a grip, Wormtail. If you don't do this, then your master will give you a fate worse then death! You know that.'_

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End of this chapter, what will happen? Who's going with Wormtail to the Burrow? Will he go through with it?

Please do read and review, and thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two up, told you it'd be quick :D

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Life was slowly beginning to return to normal at the Burrow, well as normal as it could be. The aftermath of the wedding was over, and Fleur and Bill had returned from their Honeymoon in joyful spirits. They hadn't gone far, only down to Cornwall. They didn't want to risk being away from their family too much, not with Voldemort being at large once again.

Molly Weasley busied herself in the kitchen, making dinner for the occupants of her household. Only one of her sons was home, which was a bit upsetting but Fred and George had a shop to run, Ron was off helping Harry and Charlie was working. Even if she was a bit upset, she couldn't help but be proud of all her children, even Ginny. Her little girl was still at school, striving with her work and hoping to pass her NEWTs next year. Molly had been quite surprised that the school had opened after Dumbledore's death, but when Minerva became Headmistress she knew that the school would be in good hands.

She pointed her wands at the saucepan on the hob, and it moved off the heat and down onto the work surface. With another flick, the flame went out. Molly moved towards the potatoes, and drained the boiling water from the saucepan. When this was done she shot a glance at the clock on the table, all hands were still pointing at 'Mortal Peril'. She sighed, and turned back to her work hoping that her husband would return soon. It was gone six o'clock and he should be home in about five minutes, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

Suddenly something slammed into the window, she shrieked and jumped back from the work surface. She looked out, in time to see Errol sliding down the glass with a letter clamped in his beck. She placed a hand over her heart, and waited for her breathing to go back to normal. She was getting jumpy, and that was not a good sign.

After a few seconds, she opened the window and the owl flew in. He looked slightly ruffled, but tired to appear dignified as he held out his leg for her to take the letter. She glanced at the envelope and was relieved to see that it didn't say 'Ministry of Magic'; if it had then it could've been about Arthur. No, it was just a normal envelope with her name and address written on it. She opened it with trembling fingers, and pulled out the parchment. With a sigh of relief, she read the letter.

_'Dear Molly,_

_Sorry to be writing so late, but I was wondering if Kingsley and I could pop over for tea. Arthur said that you wouldn't mind, but we thought it was best to ask just in case. We wouldn't want to intrude on a family gathering or anything._

_Hope it's okay. If not, send us away when we knock at the door._

_Thanks,_

_Tonks.'_

Molly chuckled softly as she read the letter, Tonks really didn't have to write and ask if it was all right to come to dinner. She was always welcome, as was Kingsley. The two of them had been very good friends to them recently, so it was good manners to allow them to stay. With that thought in mind, she folded up the letter and shooed Errol to his perch, before she continued with the dinner. Every few minutes she flew a glance at the clock, and soon her glances paid off. Arthur's hand changed from 'Mortal Peril' to 'Travelling' and soon she heard a knock at the door. She placed everything back on the sideboard, and hurried to the door.

As she began to open it she heard her husband's voice saying,

"Molly, you've got to ask me the question."

"Oh for Merlin's sake…What's your greatest ambition?" She asked, in an exasperated tone.

"To find out how aeroplanes stay up. Now I've got to…"

"Don't you dare, Arthur." Her voice had now turned to the dangerous tone, and she could hear her husband spluttering and smiled to herself. When she opened the door, it revealed a tired looking Arthur and a grinning Tonks and Kingsley.

"Hello Tonks dear, and Kingsley, it's so nice to see you again." She stepped out of the way to allow the three of them to enter; when they were all inside she gave Arthur a hug before moving off towards the kitchen once again.

Behind her she could hear them talking about work, and shook her head slightly. Even when they were away from the Ministry they hardly ever stopped speaking about it, but then again maybe it was good to think about work a lot. It helped the mind unwind.

"Dinner will be ready in a minute." She called, not really directing it at anyone in particular but behind her she heard Tonks hurry into the kitchen. You may ask how she knew it was Tonks; well it was obvious by the loud 'clunks' of different objects as she knocked them over.

"Can I help Molly?" She asked, looking around eagerly. Molly felt a twinge of dread, but stamped it out, this time she'd let the girl help.

"Yes there is Tonks, if you could just set the table. That'd be lovely." Tonks grinned again, and hurried to find the plates and cutlery. Molly closed her eyes briefly and prayed silently that she wouldn't smash anything, before she turned back and began to flick her wand at the food before her. In a few minutes she meals on six plates, and all of them were zooming over towards the table. Molly was pleasantly surprised to find that not a single plate was smashed, and not a single piece of cutlery had a crack in it.

"Thank-you dear." She said to the young woman, who promptly ran into the hall to call the others for dinner. As she ran past a portrait it fell heavily to the floor, and Molly hung her head. Sometimes things didn't change.

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Peter made his way towards the large living room in this house, he'd been told to meet his master there. No doubt he'd be told who was in charge of this little mission, and other such wonderful information. When the door came in sight, he could see a ray of light coming through the crack between the wall and the door. He could also hear conversation, but he couldn't recognise the voices beyond the door. He stopped outside the door, and allowed himself to listen to the conversation inside.

_"I can't work with him! He's…"_

_"You will do as you're told, Knott."_

_"Yes, my Lord"_

_"Now, Wormtail stop listening and come in."_ Peter pushed open the door and walked in, with a guilty expression on his face. Inside the room stood Knott, Crabbe and Avery. Oh great, these guys didn't like him very much! Okay, dislike was too light a term; perhaps hate was a better word to use.

"Well Wormtail, you know what you've got to do."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Repeat it please."

"I, with three others," He motioned towards the other three in the room "Must go to The Burrow and kill all the Weasley family tomorrow."

"Not tomorrow, Wormtail. Tonight."

"What?"

"The time's been changed, we can't risk them getting news of it. So you shall all go this instant and do your job now."

"But.."

"Do not give me excuses Wormtail. You shall go now, and I want all of you back alive. I have further work for you all to do."

"Yes, my Lord." All three Death Eaters muttered this phrase, before hurrying out of the room to do their job.

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Next chapter will be up shortly, will the Weasley's survive? 


	3. Chapter 3

Okay firstly sorry that this took a little longer to post, I couldn't stop writing it. Also apologies for Fleur's accent, I've had to write 't's' as 'z's' and I'm not sure if I've spelt the spells right, I'm pretty sure that there are some errors in there. So sorry in advance.

Please do read and review. This is the final chapter, and my final story will be up either tonight or tomorrow. Before Harry Potter comes out tomorrow at midnight:D

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"Oh please, the Minister is not going to allow the Quidditch World Cup tournament start again if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Names is still around!" 

"Bill, how do you not zat for sure?"

"Because…it's too dangerous."

"He's right."

"Yeah, but Kingsley maybe he'll think it'll be good for morale?"

"I doubt it Tonks." This topic had been the subject of conversation for several minutes now, and Molly for one was getting bored. She had never really been into Quidditch, even when she was at Hogwarts, but she'd gone to see the games because it was something to do. Now a days she didn't really keep up with the teams, only when Ron started to obsess over the Chudley Cannons had she started to take a bit of interest. She needed to know what her son was going on about, and if she wanted to get him presents then Quidditch stuff was always a good place to start.

"Come on Dad, back me up here." Arthur held up his hands, to signal that he was not getting involved. At this signal Molly stood up and took the empty plates away from her guests, and hurried to the sink. At least this way she could avoid the conversation by doing some work; behind her she heard a chair scrape against the floor.

"Do you need any help?" Asked Fleur, her bright blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. Ever since the battle at the Hogwarts, Molly had become quite fond of the young French girl. Now that she and Bill were married she'd calmed down, and the two women were getting along much better now.

"Oh, no it's alright thank-you dear." With a quick flick of her wand, the dishes began to wash, dry and stack themselves neatly away. She turned around to watch the men, and Tonks all gathered round the table talking animatedly.

"Zey seem to think zat Quidditch is very important." Fleur said conversationally, watching Bill with a small smile on her face.

"Yes well, that's boy's for you. And poor Tonks is getting dragged into the conversation."

Suddenly there was a noise from outside the front door, it wasn't loud but nevertheless everyone in the room heard it. The four around the table stood as one, and moved towards the door to the hall. Molly moved towards a pot on the shelf, picked it up and hurried towards the nearest fireplace. She put her hand into the pot, and pulled out some green powder. She tossed it into the empty grate and green flames erupted in the grate, she turned to watch the group around the door and waited for the signal. If it was the Death Eaters then she needed to send a message to the Order, and then they'd have to get out as quickly as possible. The message would be sent by Floo Powder and then they'd have to apparate to somewhere safe.

Arthur walked forwards towards the door, and called to whoever was outside,

"Who's there?"

There was no answer, instead only silence. He looked back at the people assembled round the door, before he moved away swiftly.

Suddenly the door exploded inwards with a flash of white light, and everyone ducked to escape the debris that was flying everywhere. Fleur screamed, and Molly had to bite down on her tongue to stop herself doing the same. From the hallway she could hear shouting, and flashes of light as spells were cast frantically. She took a deep breath before she flicked her wand at the grate, and a graceful bird flew from the tip. It flew into the grate and vanished instantly. The message was sent, now all they had to do was fight, and hope that backup was on the way. With that thought in mind she rose stiffly, and hurried towards the door out of the kitchen. Arthur, Kingsley, Tonks and Bill were busy fighting against four Death Eaters. It was one on one, but the fighting was becoming brutal, she could already see blood seeping from a wound on Bill's forehead, and the others didn't look too good either. Before she could send any spells towards them, she heard someone speaking just behind her. She turned and looked down at Fleur, who was staring at the fight. Molly felt her mothering instincts take over, and she grabbed the girl and helped her towards the door out of the house. They had to leave, and no doubt the others would be out in a minute. She felt her heart almost break, as she moved away from Arthur and Bill, but she needed to take care of Fleur.

Soon they were outside in the cold, night air and she took a quick look at their surroundings. No Death Eaters out here, which meant that either their leader was very stupid or they were hiding somewhere. He wand was still in her hand, so if she needed to she could easily send a spell at any Death Eater that appeared.

Suddenly several loud 'cracks' ripped through the air, and four people appeared next to them. Remus, Mad-eye, Fred and George. The twins ran towards her,

"Mum, are you alright?" They asked in unison, looking between her and Fleur checking for injuries.

"Yes, yes we're fine. Please Fred, George leave it to Remus and Alistair. Please." She implored her sons, but they were looking down at her with a determined air and she knew that they weren't going to do as she asked.

"Sorry Mum, but we joined the Order for a reason. We have to fight, they've just come into our home," Fred said, his eyes darkening as he turned to look at the house,

"And we're not going to let them get away with that." Finished George, and the two of them hurried off to follow Remus and Mad-eye who had already entered the house. Molly couldn't stop the tears that were now flowing freely from her cheeks, and beside her she could feel Fleur shaking as she fought against her own tears.

"We've got to get out of here." Molly managed to say, and she grabbed hold of the girl's hand and with a swish of her cloak vanished.

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The fight was getting worse inside The Burrow, it had moved from the Hall into the kitchen and both sides had received injuries. Remus ducked just in time to miss a flash of red light, and it hit the cabinet above him instead. Plates and cups fell down onto him, smashing as they made contact with the work surface, his head and his shoulders. He shot his wand over his head, and the plates stopped falling and packed themselves neatly into the cabinet once more.

"When you've quite finished doing the housework." Moody growled from behind him, and with a guilty flush on his cheeks Remus hurried towards the fight. He moved forwards, shooting spells at the four Death Eaters hoping to give his friends the advantage. Suddenly Bill fell to the floor and the man he'd been fighting jumped forwards, ready to finish the job. Remus surged forwards, forgetting about his wand and simply rugby tackling the man to the ground. Underneath the hood he heard a snuffling, and the mask fell away to reveal a very familiar face.

"Peter?" The man looked at him for a few seconds, blinking slowly before a silver fist connected with his face and he hit his head against the nearest cabinet. Lights flashed before his eyes, like a firework display. He shook his head, and managed to clear it in time to see Peter walked towards him menacingly, well as menacingly as he could manage.

"I'm sorry Moony, but…I've got to do this. Got to prove myself." Remus raised his eyebrows, before he stood quickly staring into brown eyes.

"Prove yourself, oh yes, like you proved yourself to us. You said that you'd die before you hurt one of us, and you lead Voldemort right to James and Lily!" Remus' anger was rising, and he didn't care that his voice was also rising in volume.

"That was a long time ago, Remus. I did what I had to do." Peter's voice was laced with a tone that Remus had never heard in his voice before; it was a sinister, evil tone. Remus opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly Peter shot a spell at him.

"PROTAGO." The werewolf shouted, just managing to deflect the worst bits of the spell. He stared at his former friend, almost unable to believe that he'd have to fight him. Peter had never been the best fighter, even at school he'd had to ask the others for help in almost all his lessons, but now…there was something about him that worried Remus.

The fight began, with both of them shouting spells at one another at a tremendous pace. Peter managed to conjure a sword from thin air, and he ran at Remus. Remus raised an eyebrow and disapparated, only to appear a few seconds later just behind Peter and kicked his legs out from under him. As the former Gryffindor fell to the floor, Remus pointed his wand at the man's back. Slowly Peter turned round on the floor, and tried to scramble away.

"Incarserus." Ropes flew around the man on the floor, binding him and leaving him immobile.

"Please…Remus, don't." The werewolf stared down at Wormtail, a person he'd once counted his friend. He wasn't ready to kill him, and he didn't think he could even if he tried. But he refused to let Peter see this; instead he raised his chin in a defiant manner.

"Why not Peter? You deserve it."

"I know, I know…but I couldn't help it. They threatened to kill me!"

"Peter they've threatened to kill all of us," Spells were being fired all around them, just missing Remus by millimetres, but he didn't seem to care he just kept on talking. "We all received threats Peter, but we stood up to them. We lived our lives, and didn't bow down to the scum. But you…" He shook his head in disgust, how could his friend do this? He'd been responsible for two of his friend's murders! How could he live with himself?

"I couldn't help it." Before Remus could reply, someone barrelled into him knocking him sideways and his head connected hard with a wall. He felt a fist connect with his face, and he tasted blood. Something pressed hard into his forehead, a wand was poking in his ribs, and he couldn't open his eyes.

"Now you're gunna die, werewolf." A gruff voice was spitting in his ear, and he scrambled to try and knock the man off.

"In an office of…"

"STUPIFI." He felt the man fall against him, and then someone was pulling the weight away. He still couldn't open his eyes, he felt something warm trickling down his forehead and from his mouth.

"Remus?" Another voice was before him, and someone was shaking him roughly. He tried to open his eyes but he couldn't, and soon the voices were fading into nothingness as the darkness swallowed him up.

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It'd been a week since the attack at The Burrow, the Order members had been able to drive away the Death Eaters but the Weasleys had refused to go back there again. They now knew that they were marked for death, and decided to stay at Headquarters. This seemed like the best option, the family would be safe here.

No one had died during the attack, which was a miracle! But Remus still felt like he'd let them down, if he'd only been able to concentrate on what was going on around him then he wouldn't been attacked by Knott. He knew it was wrong to blame himself, because he couldn't always be in control of his emotions.

He ran a hand through his greying hair, looking at the pictures on his mantelpiece. They were all waving or smiling at him, and he wished that he could go back to those happy times. When they didn't have to worry about anything, because they were safe inside Hogwarts. Because they had Dumbledore. Times were changing, and Remus knew that by the end of this war that they'd never be the same again. They'd loose friends, lovers, family and colleagues but by the end of it all they would have vanquished evil. That he was sure of.

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Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Please do review. 


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